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CUTrevor
2025-05-10 13:17:48
BRIGHTON, Mass. - An eight-run sixth inning through the pouring rain propelled the two-seeded Clemson Tigers (43-12) over the three-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies (41-11), 10-9, on Friday afternoon to secure Clemson’s third ACC Championship berth in program history. Six different Tigers registered an RBI with Julia Knowler and Marian Collins each recording two. The win tied the largest comeback victory in program history and was the 10th-straight win away from home this season. Senior Reese Basinger pitched the first 3.2 innings with one strikeout before being replaced by Brooke McCubbin. McCubbin threw the final 3.1 innings with two strikeouts and earned her 15th victory of the season. Both sides combined for nine errors in the seven inning contest and each team only had two earned runs. The Hokies opened the scoring in the second with an unearned run. After an error allowed a one-out runner, a double plugged the gap in left center and the runner came around to score. Two flyouts ended the inning and the Hokies held the 1-0 advantage. In the third, Clemson evened the score with an unearned run of its own. With one out, Macey Cintron worked a four-pitch walk, and Kennedy Ariail came in to pinch run. Aby Vieira singled, and a throwing error allowed Ariail to reach third. A dropped third strike followed by a throwing error brought Ariail home to tie the game. Virginia Tech reclaimed the lead in the fourth. With runners on the corners and one out, a throwing error on a steal attempt brought one home. With two outs, a dropped fly ball brought a second in to score, and a two-run homer extended VT’s lead to 5-1. The next two batters both singled and McCubbin relieved Basinger. She froze the first batter she saw for a strikeout looking to end the inning. In the fifth, Cintron led off the inning by drawing her third walk of the game. After Cintron advanced to second on a groundout, Taylor Pipkins laced one over the head of the leaping shortstop, and Cintron came home for the first earned run of the game. The Hokies pushed across four more in the top of the sixth. The bases loaded with one out on a single, a walk, and another error. A bases-clearing double scored all three and a two-out single pushed across one more to make it 9-2 in VT’s favor. The Clemson sixth-inning rally started out with an Alex Brown single and Maddie Moore double. With two in scoring position, Knowler reached on an error and both runners came around to score. Cintron’s program-record fourth walk of the afternoon advanced Knowler to second. A groundout moved them both into scoring position, and Marian Collins hit a laser to the left field wall to score them both to cut VT’s lead down to three runs with two outs. Pipkins worked a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, and Haylee Whitesides drew a pinch hit walk to load the bases. The walks continued as Jamison Brockenbrough worked a 10-pitch walk to score Collins. Brown stepped into the box for the second time in the inning and became the fourth-straight Tiger to walk that scored Pipkins and brought Clemson within one. Moore came to the plate once again, and on a 1-0 count, tied the game after getting hit by a pitch to bring Whitesides home. After starting the rally by reaching on an error, Knowler gave the Tigers the lead with yet another bases-loaded walk, and Clemson headed to the dugout up 10-9 with three outs to play. After committing five errors through the first six innings of the game, the rain was no match for McCubbin and the Tigers’ defense. A groundout, a fielder’s choice, and a flyout completed a scoreless top of the seventh and sent the Tigers to their first ACC Championship Game since 2022. Up Next Clemson returns to the ACC Championship game for the first time in three years to take on the top-seeded Florida State Seminoles. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10 on ESPN. |
